“Dude! You’re not a monster! What the hell are you saying that for?”
I raised my eyes for a moment and stared at him balefully. “Maybe because it’s true.”
“No. No way, Mack,” he said, vigorously shaking his head. “You’re the most loyal, the most thoughtful, and the most heroic person I know. You are not a monster. “ The corner of his mouth lifted up. “You have a shitty temper but, let’s face it, you are a woman. It goes with the territory.”
I leaned over to where he was sitting and thumped him on the arm. He let out a mock squeal of pain. “You’re not a monster,” he repeated fervently.
I gave him a half smile. “Thanks.” Now if only I could believe that myself, I’d be set.
We were both silent for a few moments, then Alex spoke again. “So if your mum is human, then you must be a Draco Wyr because of your dad. What happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “I don’t remember anything about him. My mother never so much as mentioned him. The thing is,” I swallowed and looked in Alex’s eyes, “and you can’t ever tell anyone this, but the book said that…” My voice drifted off for a moment. Alex just waited. I took a deep breath and tried again. “The book said that Draco Wyr are almost always born as twins. Something to do with fallopian tubes and dividing eggs. Biological stuff.”
I tried to look nonchalant. Alex’s mouth, however, dropped open. “There’s another one of you? Nooooooo way.”
“Yes way. Or probably yes way. I don’t know.”
“Wow. Another Mack Attack.”
“It almost doesn’t bear thinking about, does it?”
“Wow. I mean, wow. And you don’t remember…?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Damn.”
Alex absorbed that information for a little longer, clearly as stunned as I had been when I’d read it only yesterday. “Who else knows this?”
“Solus definitely. I’m not sure if it was him who translated the book. Even if it wasn’t, he’s pretty loyal to the Summer Queen, so goodness knows how many Fae actually know.”
“Do you think they’ll blab?” His expression was serious.
“No. It’ll suit them to know more than everyone else. I think the Fae, as a whole, enjoy feeling superior to everyone else.”
Alex laughed slightly. “You’re not wrong there. So, what did the book say about the magic stuff? You know, your spooky green fire?”
“Some Draco Wyr manifest it and some don’t.” I shrugged. “Apparently it’s not much of a big deal.”
“Are there any other powers that are likely to, um, manifest themselves?”
“Not unless I can get a grip on the whole transformation thing,” I said. “If I can manage that without completely losing control of my senses, then I’ll be able to theoretically fly, breathe fire and generally destroy anything that gets in my way.” I smirked slightly, then started abruptly as I realised something.
“What?”
“When I was in Balud’s shop earlier today, he made some weird comment about my eyes. I didn’t get the chance to make him tell me what he meant but…”
“Yeah?”
“But according to the book, that’s sometimes meant to be an indication a Draco Wyr is about to shift. If their eyes start glowing.”
Alex looked suddenly alarmed. He jumped up, shoulders tense and looked around the room, then grabbed me by the shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. “Is it about to happen? Here? Can you stop it?”
I laughed. “Relax, I feel fine. It was probably nothing. I think being here in this hospital and being drained of a pint of blood has had a remarkably calming effect. I don’t even feel that pissed off at Corrigan any more. I should definitely do this more often.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You really like him, don’t you? Corrigan?”
I stared down at my shoes again. “According to the book, he’s my soul-mate.”
Alex didn’t immediately say anything. I sneaked a glance up at his face. His eyes were wide.
“It says that if I can initiate the Voice with someone, then it means they’re my soul-mate,” I explained.
He blinked, but still remained silent.
“And he hates me,” I said simply. “I had to choose between him and the council, and for the sake of making everyone work together to bring down Endor, I chose the council. You saw him earlier. He not only hates me, but he’s already moved on. I thought that if we could find Endor quickly and get rid of him then there might be a chance to make things up to him and get him back, but now I don’t think that’ll work.” A ripple of fire ran up my spine and, despite its heat, I shivered.
“So let me get this straight,” said Alex slowly, “you have a secret hidden twin. You were abandoned as a child and you don’t know who your father is. You’re trying to manage a high-powered job in the middle of the worst recession the country has seen for decades. There’s a super-villain with murderous tendencies and shadowy motives after you and many others. And you’re in love with someone who hates you.”
“Pretty much,” I said sadly.
“Well, you know what this means,” he said, in a particularly sombre tone.
“What?”
“We need to get working on a theme tune right away. Because if this isn’t a soap opera, darling, then I don’t know what is.”
We looked at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing. I stood up, ignoring the slight wave of dizziness the action gave me, and grabbed Alex in a hug.
He squeezed me tightly back. “How about ‘Beedebopdelooolah’?”
“Sounds great,” I said into his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“You got it, Mack Attack. But we should come up with a code word first, you know. In case your, no doubt, evil twin shows up and pretends to be you. Then you can warn me and I can run away in time.”
I grinned. “Beedebopdelooolah.”
Chapter Seven
Unburdening myself to Alex had a remarkably cathartic effect. Now that there was someone else who knew all the book’s secrets, I no longer felt I was alone. I was nigglingly aware of Solus and the way he had repeatedly urged me to get around to reading the translation but, after his role in forcing me to become head of the council, I wasn’t convinced that I wanted to sit around discussing my life and all its possibilities with him. I had to admit, even to myself, that the twin thing had me rather fazed. To quote the book directly, it had stated that the ‘majority of Draco Wyr’ were born as twins. So that didn’t necessarily mean it was true in my case. The fact I had no knowledge or memory of anything even remotely sibling related made me think I could be one of the exceptions to the rule. Of course, I had no knowledge or memory of a father either. Let’s face it, there definitely had to have been someone in that role at some point, no matter how fleeting their, er, physical presence had been. However, in the absence of anything or anyone to prove or disprove the twin theory, I had no option right now but to completely ignore it. Perhaps if there wasn’t the increasingly frustrating case of Endor to deal with, then I might have considered devoting some time towards investigating it further. As it was, I really did have bigger fish to fry.
Leaving Alex at the gates of the hospital, with strict instructions to look into getting hold of large quantities of palladium as a matter of extreme urgency, I headed for home. I decided to check in briefly at Clava Books, then take a nap. Once darkness fell, I’d venture out on the streets when all the real nasties were around. Even if I didn’t bump into anyone darkly evil enough to know where Endor might be, beating a few of the less desirable members of the Otherworld up would at least give me something to do, and feed my burgeoning desire for action. The pathetic fight with the shifters just hadn’t cut it.
When I finally stepped off the train at my home station and trotted down the steps onto the busy little shopping thoroughfare, the light in the sky was already starting to dim. I wended my way towards the little bookshop, humming the same tune that Alex and I had created, then dodged out of the path of a small child clutching a melting ice-cream and staring up at me with huge shocked eyes. I grinned at him, trying to be friendly, but his face crumpled and he started to wail. His mother yanked his arm, pulling him away, and sent me a vicious look. Tingles of irritated bloodfire prickled at my skin. And then at the back of my neck. I almost stopped and turned around but managed to catch myself just in time. Someone, or something, was following me. Please let it be Endor, I silently prayed. The first time I’d ever met him had been around this area so it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that he’d be stupid enough to come back. Please, please, please.
Without breaking my stride, I turned right rather than continuing forward. I needed to draw whoever it was away from the bookshop and instead to somewhere more secluded where I could confront them. If I’d been right about my eyes glowing earlier, then perhaps I was ripe to transform into a dragon again. I didn’t want to; I was still terrified about what I could become inside when that happened - especially in this crowded little borough of London. Goodness only knew what the result might be. However, if I had no other choice…I set my mouth into a grim line. Bring it on.
I reached into my back pocket and brought out the letter from Alex, halting for a moment and pretending to study it. It was hardly a sophisticated move, but I’d have to hope that Endor had enough of a hard-on to come and attack me to not suspect anything untoward. I let it drop, exclaiming overtly loud irritation, then bent down to scoop it up, carefully watching the side mirror of a nearby parked car as I did so. I was completely baffled by what I saw. Apparently I was being tracked by a giant penguin. Okaydokey. Either it was some new kind of Otherworld creature that I’d not yet come across, or I was going completely crazy.